Parties jostle over control of Mt Kenya

An internal war has emerged in the opposition, pitting former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s allies against retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party.

Gachagua and allies on Sunday said the recently launched Democracy for Citizens Party will be the only vehicle of choice in the region, and they will not be divided through Jubilee.

“If anyone wants votes from Mt Kenya, there is only one door. Please [Fred] Matiang’i, don’t allow yourself to be misled by that man from Ndaragwa [Jubilee secretary general Jeremiah Kioni]. We only have one door and that is Rigathi Gachagua,” Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu said.

Kioni, the former Ndaragwa MP, had deceived Matiang’i that he could get the mountain’s support through “another door,” Nyutu said, hence his remarks.

Matiang'i has been endorsed by the Jubilee Party as its presidential candidate in the 2027 polls. Nyutu, and a key ally of the ex-DP, was echoing remarks by Embakasi North James Gakuya, who said Mt Kenya had already settled on Gachagua as the regional kingpin.

“My heart aches when I hear some quarters say Uhuru is yet to speak. We supported Uhuru, and he led us for 10 years. He is now retired. Now we have our leader, Riggy G, who was our Deputy President. When he was being impeached, I didn’t hear Uhuru speak.

“So, let’s not allow to be divided. Our leader is Gachagua, and that’s our strong position,” Gakuya added.

Even without the former President’s speech, Gakuya said they can read his body language, which they have interpreted as support for the opposition ranks.

“While we will continue seeking his wise counsel, we will not allow ourselves to be divided. Our friends in Jubilee, I urge you to cross over so that we can build a strong party so that from the onset, Gachagua will have a solid eight million votes in his basket,” Gakuya, who has expressed interest in Nairobi governorship, said.

Jamleck Kamau, who lost the Murang’a governor race on the Jubilee Party in the 2022 polls, declared he had joined DCP to challenge Governor Irungu Kangata. Kamau said aspirants seeking any electoral seat in the Mt Kenya region will have to do so under Gachagua's outfit.

“Just like the late John Michuki told us when we endorsed Uhuru, that anyone who wanted Mt Kenya support needed to go through him. We are repeating the same here: Inasmuch as we respect Uhuru as the fourth President, he is not looking for another seat. Therefore, anyone who wants votes here he or she must speak with Gachagua. “The route Riggy G will tell us to take is the one we will take,” Kamau said.

The leaders spoke at the AIPCA church in Kihoya in Kangema, Murang’a county.

The speeches targeting Kioni, Uhuru and the Jubilee Party add to the ongoing war of words between the two camps over the control of Mt Kenya.

Kioni last week trashed Gachagua’s presidential ambitions, saying his candidacy would give Ruto an easy win in 2027.

“I am telling Rigathi to stop saying he will run for President. If he goes ahead with it, he will give Ruto a highway to return to State House,” Kioni told media.

Kioni has previously opposed Gachagua’s push to ring-fence the Mt Kenya region, terming it an attempt to “perpetuate his politics of shareholders in the opposition coalition”.

Former Nyeri Town MP and Jubilee member Ngunjiri Wambugu, who recently fell out with Gachagua, has also pushed against the move to have DCP as the only vehicle of choice in Mt Kenya.

Wambugu, who was the political and communication adviser of Gachagua, said there is a deliberate effort to kill Jubilee in Mt Kenya because it’s the one party guaranteed to provide a safe and respectable alternative should things go south for aspirants in ‘new’ parties.

“We must remind him [Gachagua] that his call for a single party has no place in Mt Kenya. He must recognise the importance of allowing other parties to exist both now and in the future to ensure a vibrant and inclusive political landscape,” Ngunjiri said.

Gachagua insists Matiang’i should seek the country’s top job through a Gusii homegrown political party.